An Open Letter Apology to Tyler Glenn of the Neon Trees

 

Mormon vocalist for the Neon Trees, Tyler Glenn, announced himself as Gay in a recent article for Rolling Stone. I formed an opinion about Tyler before understanding all the facts. I wanted to apologize to him.

Brother Glenn,

I highly doubt you will ever see this, but I also doubt you were aware of my reaction so I call it even. Me and my family are big Neon Trees fans. Your albums have saved out sanity when it comes to family friendly music options that are hip and cool. After a recent Cub Scout Meeting my oldest son and I went out to dinner and ended up singing Animal on Karaoke.

When I heard that you had come out, my knee jerk reaction was, "Do I want my kids to listen to Neon Trees anymore?" There are a lot of voices in the world trying to influence families. Some are good, but most are bad. The most dangerous though, are those pretending to be good, but are truly bad. The leaved fig trees without fruit, the wolves in sheep's clothing, the white-washed tombs.

I attributed these things to you. I was wrong, and I am sorry.

Elder Craig Zwick said in the most recent conference, “All of us, though covenant children of a loving Heavenly Father, have regretted jumping headlong from the high seat of self-righteous judgment and have spoken with abrasive words before we understood a situation from another’s perspective.”

I thought of my reaction to you and I went to look up more information. I was convinced of my error when I heard your rendition of "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" It moved me. It gave me a glimpse of the struggle and the search you are going through to reconcile your feelings and your faith. While I don't know where you stand on everything and if I will completely agree, one thing I could tell was that you were sincere. I can certainly respect that.

 

After that, I read your interview with Rolling Stone and listened you your interview with The Cultural Hall and it helped me understand you better. I wanted to tell you that I hope and pray for the best for you as you navigate this difficult time.

On my mission we were permitted to listen to Christ centered music. So on P-Day I would treat myself to a little Five Iron Frenzy. (Christian Ska). My reaction reminded me of a song from them called Fahrenheit. Lead Singer, Reese Roper loved the Flash Gordon soundtrack, then learning that Queen’s Freddie Mercury had died of AIDS he turns his back on him. The final lyrics to the song are the repeated phrase, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

This is how I would like to end my letter, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

-Grady